Instants
by fenfae
Summary: A look into some key scenes with some friendly faces. One-shots, some collective. Games only. Rated T for safety. Second Chapter: Introduction; Brendan struggles to settle into Hoenn.
1. 00 Prologue

**0.0 Prologue**

The days were cold and grey in Sinnoh, and Professor Rowan could not get warm. He had wrapped himself in a large thick blanket, slipped on his plushest slippers, and sunk down into an easy armchair in front of a roaring fire. His hot cocoa mug burned in his hands, but he cupped it all the same, savouring the warmth. It would take him a while to get back used to the cooler temperatures of the Sinnoh climate. Lucas had felt it too, the bite of a cold wind from the moment he stepped down off the plane. The boy pulled his jacket around him tighter and used his scarf to cover his lips from the wind, but Lucas had only let Sinnoh briefly to help Professor Rowan move back to his home country, and he quickly adapted back to the cold. Professor Rowan had been away from Sinnoh for four whole years. It would take him a fair time longer to steel himself to the snow and sleet that plagued the Sinnoh region.

"Hmm." He grumbled as he stared into the flames of his hearth. "Four years."

Kanto had been pleasant enough for Professor Rowan. It was a small region, full of forests and grasslands with strange Pokémon he rarely saw at home. He had spent his time researching in conjunction with the Pewter City Museum of Science on their rare collection of Pokémon fossils trying to prove his theories on evolution.

"Not evolution as we know it, like metamorphosis or epigenetics." He explained to the other scientists in Pewter City. "But actual _evolution_."

He had theorised about strong connections to the prehistoric Pokémon Aerodactyl in nearly every flying-type Pokémon in modern day. Pidgeys, Charizards, Dragonites. The Pewter City Museum of Science had developed ground-breaking technology to revive prehistoric Pokémon and there he was able to observe this Aerodactyl in great depth while studying its genetic build. During his four years researching in Kanto, he was able to publish paper after paper about Pokémon evolution and Pokémon biology, proving to the whole world that Aerodactyl was the common ancestor of draconis Pokemon. But even with this one hypothesis proven, a dozen others were sprouting from Professor Rowan's brain.

If Aerodactyl is the common ancestor of Dragon Pokémon, then it's not a stretch to assume that other prehistoric Pokémon are common ancestors of other biological groups…but then who is the common ancestor of all prehistoric Pokémon? Are we humans just evolved Pokémon?

"Humans are Pokémon?" Professor Oak laughed when Professor Rowan proposed him to this. They were sat in Rowan's private study at the Museum, each with a hot drink in hand. Professor Rowan was stirring his with a sweet biscuit. "Shall I start breathing fire, Barty? Or sprout wings and fly like a Pidgey?"

"In Sinnoh, they say that once there was no difference between Pokémon and humans, and that they ate at the same tables all around the world. You might laugh now Samuel, but you cannot deny that it is an interesting idea." Professor Rowan took a bite of his biscuit and chewed.

Professor Oak stroked his chin, thinking. "Well…it's certainly a radical one."

"One worth a paper?"

A sigh escaped Professor Oak as he shook his head. "You can't keep running, old friend. No more papers. It's time you went home."

Home.

Professor Rowan continued to stare into the flames. His cocoa was growing cold, but he had lost his thirst and put the cocoa aside. His hands retreated under the blanket and he sighed with a heavy heart. Yes, it would take a while for him to steel himself to the cold, heartless climate of Sinnoh.

"Professor?"

Even hearing the boy's voice caused his heart to stop. Professor Rowan swallowed hard against the lump forming in his throat. He kept his eyes on the fire and refused to look.

"The cocoa is cold. I don't require another." He spoke gruffly. "You're dismissed, Lucas."

He heard Lucas withdraw from the study without a word. Professor Rowan felt his chest tighten and he grimaced, bringing a hand up to rub his upper lip. The room felt colder than ever despite the blazing fire. Professor Rowan watched the flames dance with zeal as he slowly felt his lids grow heavy. He closed his eyes and the flames were swallowed up in the darkness and died.

* * *

_He dreamed that he was standing by a lake. The shoreline was rocky with grey and white pebbles that crunched under his feet and the water gently lapped over the pebbles. He could smell fresh air and wet earth and flowers. Behind him there was a dense forest of pine trees and the breezes blowing in from the lake's surface rustled the trees, littering the forest floor with pine cones and needles._

_"I know this place…" He whispered, his words lost to the wind. Faintly, he could hear the laughter of children. He thought he could see them, running across the lake's surface. Professor Rowan stepped out, but his feet plunged into the icy water and he sunk up to his knees. The children wouldn't wait for him. They ran ahead and over the horizon. Professor Rowan took another step. "Wait…"_

_A light shimmered above his head. Professor Rowan looked up but was dazzled by the bright light. He flinched and squinted his eyes. Before him was either a Pokémon or some kind of extra-terrestrial encrusted with red jewels. The sight of it brought tears flooding from Professor Rowan's eyes and at the same time, he gave a laugh that shook his belly. The creature looked at him with golden eyes and spoke with his daughter's voice._

_"If prehistoric Pokémon are the common ancestors of the Pokémon of today, then who are the common ancestors of prehistoric Pokémon?"_

_Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "I don't know…" He said breathlessly. His heart felt as if it were about to burst. "I don't know…"_

* * *

"I don't know…"

Professor Rowan opened his eyes with a sudden gasp and found himself back in his study. The fire had died long ago but there were still tears on his cheeks. He clutched at his heart and struggled to return his breathing to normal. Bolting up from his easy armchair, he brushed the tears from his face and started to search for his coat.

"Lucas! Lucas!" He shouted, darting around the room with new-found energy. "We have to go! We have to go to Lake Verity!"


	2. 01 Introduction

**0.1 Introduction**

"Hi there!"

Brendan looked up from his mother's flowerbed to see a girl leaning over the garden fence. The girl was similarly Brendan's age but remarkably pale for someone living in Hoenn. Her hair was a mousy colour and stringy and cut short. She stood on the tips of her toes with her hands behind her back, grinning as she loomed above. Her blue-grey eyes were bright with excitement. They were a rare find in somewhere like Little Root Town, where nearly everyone but Brendan and his family had skin tones deepened by tan, and hair and eyes were various hues of black and brown. This girl was nearly blonde, pale and skinny.

"I'm May. I'm your new neighbour!"

Brendan blinked. He suddenly became very conscious of the pink gardening gloves his mother had given him to wear while planting the flowers. He was knelt into the fresh earth of his mother's flowerbeds with a trowel in one had and a tray of fresh flowers next to him that were ripe for planting. The sun was high in the sky and the back of Brendan's neck was burning, coated in a thin layer of sweat and sunscreen. A white picket fence separated him and the strange new girl. "I'm…Brendan."

"Glad to meet you, Brendan! So, you're from the Johto region, huh?" May asked as she leaned even further over the fence.

"Uh…yeah."

"Is it a lot colder in Johto?"

"Yeah."

"What kinds of Pokémon do you have there? Does it rain a lot? What about the winter? Have you seen snow? What it like?"

Brendan clenched his jaw. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead with the back of the pink gardening glove. "Look- I gotta get these flowers planted for my mom. She'll go mad if I don't plant them soon. Nice meeting you." With that, Brendan knelt deeper into the soil and started to turn it with his trowel.

"Wow, I've never seen those kinds of flowers before. Are they from Johto?"

It was hard for Brendan to repress a sigh. "Yeah…they're called sweet peas."

"They're really pretty but I don't think they're gonna last long in this climate. Don't you have a green house or something? You can grow pretty much anything in those."

Brendan threw down his trowel into the soil. "No, we don't." He got up and realised that he towered over this girl. "I have to go."

He spun around and began to march back into his house. He knew the flowers wouldn't grow here in Hoenn but for just a little longer, Brendan could pretend that he was back home in Johto where he didn't sweat all day and rain fell from the sky in light showers that would leave cool muddy puddles for him to splash all day in and have mud fights with his friends.

"Wait- don't you want to meet Feathers?"

Brendan stopped. He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Who's Feathers?" He asked.

May produced a Pokéball from pocket and opened it. In a burst of light, out jumped a tiny Torchic. It was covered in yellow and orange feathers and had small brown eyes that shone as bright as its Trainer's. Feathers chirped and danced around on its feet.

"This is Feathers." May announced, gesturing to the Torchic. "My Dad gave him to me as my starter. I've had him for a few weeks now but he's pretty funky. Not very good at battling, though. He can get kind of nervous and try to burn everything down."

"He's cool." Brendan replied.

"Where's your Pokémon? Do you have any? Maybe we could have a battle?"

Brendan looked away and crossed his arms. "I don't have any." He muttered bitterly.

"Oh…I'm sorry." May looked away. "You know…you could always ask my Dad. He's a Pokémon Professor and he's got loads of them at the lab and sometimes they-"

"Look, I don't want any of your dumb Pokémon!" Brendan growled, his gut twisting nastily. May flinched and frowned. Brendan's sudden ferocity sent her Torchic into a panicked frenzy, causing it to leap over the fence and into May's arms while chirping hysterically.

"Hey, I was just saying." May muttered and turned away.

"Yeah well - forget it!" Brendan shouted after before he stormed into the house and slammed the door shut.

Once inside, he sighed and sunk to the floor with his head in his hands. The kitchen tiles were cool beneath his skin and the ceiling fan kept the room cool. Boxes upon boxes were piled around on kitchen counters, some opened, and others still taped shut. A pot of rice boiled on the stove. It was eerily quiet. The only sounds were the chirping of birds outside, the bubbling of boiling water, and the soft swsh of the ceiling fan. Brendan leaned back against the door and let his hands fall from his face, closing his eyes and imaging he was back in his home kitchen in Johto.

There was a patter of footsteps and the door leading to the dining room swung open. Brendan's mom blinked when she saw her son sat on the tiles.

"What are you doing on the floor?" She asked.

"It's cooler." Brendan half-lied.

"Good idea but I need you out of the house. Your father is inviting people from work over to network and this house has to be spotless. Did you plant those sweet peas for me?"

Brendan sighed. "What's the point? They're only gonna die in a few days."

"But they'll look nice for tonight. Go plant them for me, please Brendan. Let me clean this whole place and then you can come back in. Why don't you go for a walk after? See if there's any kids in this town your age. Try and make some new friends."

"I don't want new friends." Brendan muttered.

"Then you're going to grow into a very lonely teenager. Now – flowers, plant, now."

Tired of arguing, Brendan rose from the floor and opened the back door to the garden. Just before he passed the threshold, he hesitated and turned back. "Mom?"

"Yes, darling?"

"You know how I was gonna get my first Pokémon back home?"

His mother never looked up from the rice she was stirring. "Yes."

"Well…can I still get one?"

Brendan's mother stayed strangely silent for a few seconds, stirring her pot of rice. "Darling…" She sighed. "Your father and I think it's best if you settle in first, just for the first couple of months. This place is so new, Brendan, and we don't know anything yet about the Pokémon or the people-"

The door slammed shut as Brendan marched back out into the garden and the blazing sun. Instead of making for the sweet peas, he vaulted the fence and took the lane path to the middle of town. He threw the pink gardening gloves back over into the garden then shoved his hands into his pockets. He glared sullenly at the ground as he stalked down the lane, kicking a pebble as he went. His lips were a thin line.

"Stupid Hoenn." He kicked the pebble further down the path. "Stupid Dad."

When he reached the street, people avoided making eye contact and always hurried past. Brendan's heartbeat pounded in his chest as he wandered around, preferring to be anywhere but home and anywhere than Hoenn. He passed a bunch of houses where an old man sat on a bench. Brendan ignored the old man's eyes as they followed him suspiciously. The street took him around another corner where a blue-roofed building stood taller than most of the houses in Little Root Town. The building was a science lab, with lots of large glass windows and even a fenced off garden space. Brendan had never been inside, but he knew that the guy who ran it lived next door. Professor Birch, May's father, had Pokémon.

Brendan shifted from foot to foot, staring at the glass door of the laboratory. If he went in and asked for a Pokémon, would they laugh him out of the front door? What if they had Johto Pokémon there? Brendan longed to hear the tweeting of Pidgey again. He always wanted his own Cyndaquil for a starter Pokémon, what were the odds that this lab had one? He wouldn't even mind a Totodile or even a Chikorita if it meant just a little bit of home living in his pocket.

Taking a deep breath, Brendan walked up to the laboratory door…but his courage failed him.

He left the laboratory and sighed heavily. His head hurt so much but Brendan couldn't decide if it was the disappointment or his scalp burning form the sun. He scratched his head and headed for the forestry path, hoping to seek shelter in the shade. He wasn't wanted at home anyway, and there was no other place to go to.

The forests in Hoenn were more like jungles than the actual forests in Johto. In Johto, different kinds of trees flocked together with streams and ponds cutting through the mossy earth like roads. Everything was green and teeming with life. In Hoenn, the trees were mostly leaning palms trees and thick vines hung from the growth overhead. The ground beneath was dusty red dirt and the plants grew too thick to push aside to pass. The flowers were bright and vibrant, but the air was hot and heavy. It was dense foliage with a footpath that was easy to lose in the growth. Brendan had been warned not to venture too far in or risk losing his way.

_Let me get lost_, he thought. _I'm done with Hoenn_.

He boldly set forth, pushing aside large leaves and strange vines. A thin layer of sweat formed on the back of his neck. The canopy of bright leaves provided shade from the sun but even in the shade, the heat was far more intense than anything he experienced in Johto. His mother had assured him that in time, they all would become accustom to the new climate but everyday he had to shower away the sweat, change his clothes and bedding for fresh linen, and spend most of his days sat in front of the powered fan in the attic. In Johto, he used to spend every day outside, drawing intricate sketches of every new plant and creature he came across. Now he stayed indoors as much as he could and played his video games.

A faint sound made him stop. In the jungle, all the noises were new and different to him but this one was almost familiar. Brendan froze and waited. Did I mishear? Is it a Pokémon?

He heard it again and this time there was no mistake.

Someone was screaming.

His feet moved before his head could think. Suddenly, he was running forward, tripping over roots and vines, pushing away leaves. His breathing turned shallow, but his heart was pumping fiercely in his chest. He hit a palm trunk, spun and kept running towards the screams. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. His eyes adapted to pick up every detail – every leaf, every root in the dirt, every shadow lurking in the grove.

_I should turn around. I should turn and run back for help._

But his feet kept pushing forward, thundering against the dirt.

"H-help me!"

It was a man's voice, panicked and wavering. Brendan ran faster, and soon he crashed into a clearing. Rolling in the dust and dirt was a large man dressed in a soiled, white scientist coat. Around him were several grey canine-creatures, each sinking their sharp teeth into the man's skin and his shorts. They snarled, their tails stood, and their fur bristling with anger. Blood dripped from the man's wounds. A few turned their scarlet eyes on Brendan and growled. He backed away.

The man looked up at Brendan with wide brown eyes. "The bag! In the bag!"

There was a brown knapsack at the foot of a palm tree just a foot away from Brendan. He dived for it and flung it open. Inside were two Pokéballs. Brendan grabbed one and pressed it open. With a flash, a strange Pokémon emerged. It was a lizard with shimmering green and red scales and two golden eyes stared at Brendan with interest. It's wet tongue tasted the air.

"Go!" Brendan pointed at the pack of Poochyena, his voice wavering. "Hit them or something!"

The Treecko stared and stood as still as a stone.

The man struggled to his knees, trying to shake off a Poochyena that had latched onto its elbow. Another tore his shorts while another attacked his feet. "Pound! It knows pound!"

Brendan wet his lips. "Pound! Pound, quickly!"

Finally, the Treecko struck. It darted forward and struck the nearest canine with its large tail. Another leapt forward, and the Treecko batted it away. The lay low to the ground and snarled. The Treecko did not make a sound but kept those golden eyes fixed on its targets. It pressed forward, forcing them back. They snapped their jaws in warning.

Brendan kept back and counted. There were five Poochyena in total. Three were struggling with the man but the one at his elbow dropped to the floor and joined the attack on Brendan and his companion. Another two crouched to the ground and gently stalked forward. Brendan's mouth dried. His gaze darted back to the knapsack. He yanked the other Pokéball out of the bag and opened it. Something blue and orange emerged from the light. It blinked at the snarling Poochyena and instantly opened its mouth, spewing a stream of water. The Poochyena cowered and whimpered before scattering into the green.

"Pound!"

The lizard Pokémon leapt forward to strike the other Poochyena away from the man's knees. Seeing their pack fleeing, the last two turned tail and ran.

Brendan dropped to his knees, shaking and breathless. The man lay in the dirt, breathing hard. One of his sandals was missing.

"Thank you…boy…" He spoke between breaths. Struggling, he sat up. The man was overweight with a thin brown beard that probably hid his double chin. Under the dirty science coat, he wore a purple t-shirt and a pair of brown combat shorts. He was bleeding slight from his arm and both legs, with an ugly bruise developing on his forehead. "So much for my survey…"

"Those things could've killed you." Brendan spoke, trembling. "Are there more of them?"

The man blinked. "What, the Poochyena? They're one of the most common Pokémon around here but they're pretty harmless. I only got jumped but they're just pups. A few bites and scratches but I'll probably need shots…darn it."

Brendan's jaw slackened. "But-"

"Everyone around here knows about Poochyena…unless…you must be Norman's boy!" The man got to his feet, laughing. "Why, I hardly recognised you! You've grown quite a bit since I last saw you but then you were only a tiny baby."

"You…know me?"

"Of course! Your father and I go way back to when we were your age. Met each other travelling around when we were trainers. I wasn't much good at battling, but you father was a natural. We kept in touch from time to time when your family moved to Olivine City, and now we're neighbours! Ha! That's partially my fault, of course. I recommended your father for the new position at Petalburg Gym. I'm glad to see him finally back in Hoenn."

"Neighbours…" Brendan thought back to the pale skinny girl with the Torchic and looked at the boulder of a man before him. "You're Professor Birch!"

Professor Birch held out a hand to help Brendan to his feet and grinned. "That's me! Now, if you would return those Pokémon to their balls, let's go back to my lab for a nice catch-up."


End file.
